Murkowski eager for race wrap-up

With Republican Joe Miller continuing to pursue his legal contest to the Alaska Senate race, Senate Republicans and Sen. Lisa Murkowski have made it clear they want the race to be resolved as soon as possible.

That’s because if Miller’s quixotic lawsuit over the results of the Senate race continues to drag on through the end of December, Republicans run the risk of not being able to seat a member of their caucus when Congress returns in January.

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And with Miller showing no signs of conceding soon and his lawsuit just beginning to make its way through state court Wednesday, Senate Republicans, Murkowski and attorneys for the state of Alaska have started waving a red flag that a lengthy legal process could create a host of problems.

“In order for Senator Murkowski to avoid a break in service she needs to be sworn in at the start of the next Congress,” said Murkowski campaign manager Kevin Sweeney. “That is one of the main arguments for expedited judgment in the case.”

“There is apparently some concern,” said Sen. John Cornyn, the Texas Republican who is the National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman. “My hope is this judge will make a decision sooner rather than later and Alaska can have two United States senators functioning in January.”

Attorneys for the state of Alaska filed a request for an expedited ruling by Dec. 9 because they argued they will run “the risk that Alaska will be deprived of a U.S. senator for some period if this dispute is not resolved quickly,” according to copies of court records obtained by the Associated Press.

But Miller has made it clear he is not giving up his fight for the Alaska Senate seat. In response to the state’s request for a quick ruling, Miller spokesman Randy DeSoto said their campaign would only rest once all of his ballots undergo a hand count and all the write-in ballots are tallied according to the “legal standard” of spelling Murkowski’s name perfectly.

“When those two things happen, then we’ll have an accurate count, and if Lisa Murkowski is the winner, Joe will certainly honor the result,” said DeSoto.